Episode Details

CPSolvers: Anti-Racism in Medicine Series

Episode 15: Housing is Health: Racism and Homelessness – Clinician + Community Perspectives 

Show Notes by: Victor Anthony Lopez-Carmen, MPH

April 5, 2022

Summary: This episode highlights homelessness’ impact on health, the structural and racialized nature of homelessness, and practical interventions to address housing inequities. This is the last of three episodes interrogating the relationships between race, place, housing, and health. During this episode, we gained insight from special guests Dr. Margot Kushel and Mr. Bobby Watts about what brought them into their fields, how their work reaches the most marginalized, and what can be done at the community and structural level to address homelessness. Dr. Margot Kushel is a Professor of Medicine and Division Chief at the Division of Vulnerable Populations at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center and Director of the UCSF Center for Vulnerable Populations and UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative. Mr. Bobby Watts is the chief executive officer of the National Health Care for the Homeless Council. This episode was hosted by Sudarshan Krishnamurthy, Jazzmin Williams, and Alec Calac.

Episode Learning Objectives:

After listening to this episode, learners will be able to:

1. Learn about non-stigmatizing language for healthcare providers when talking about individuals experiencing homelessness
2. Understand how systemic racism, including injust housing policies and over-policing, are at the root of homelessness and its disproportionate impact on Black and Brown communities
3. Understand the systemic factors that have increasingly led to the aging population experiencing homelessness today
4. Learn how homelessness contributes to adverse health outcomes, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic
5. Describe  the utility of medical respite care when working with patients experiencing homelessness
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